Blacklist International atop group as Riyadh Masters begins

Blacklist International were the only Group A team to register a win on Thursday as the play-in phase of the Riyadh Masters got underway in Saudi Arabia.

The $5 million Dota 2 event, part of the Esports World Cup, features 20 teams. Team Falcons, BetBoom Team, Gaimin Gladiators, WBG.XG, Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, OG and Team Spirits received automatic berths into the group stage. The 12 other teams are divided into two round-robin groups as they battle for eight more group-stage spots.

Play-in matches are best-of-two, and the top three teams from each group advance. The third- and fourth-place teams from each group will face a third- or fourth-place team from the other group for the final two slots.

The group stage runs Wednesday through July 14, with all matches best-of-two. Teams will compete in two round-robin groups of eight. The top four teams in each group move on to the playoffs' upper bracket, with the fifth- and sixth-place teams in each group entering the playoffs' lower bracket.

The double-elimination playoffs run July 16-21. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

The winning team will earn $1.5 million and 1,000 Esports World Cup team points, while the runner-up will receive $800,000 and 600 Esports World Cup team points.

On Thursday, Blacklist International posted a 2-0 win over G2 x iG, prevailing in 43 minutes and 27 minutes on green. Abed "Abed" Yusop paced the all-Philippines Blacklist roster with an average 7.5/0.0/7.0 kill-death-assist ratio. China's Du "Monet" Peng finished at 2.0/3.0/1.5 for G2 x iG.

The remainder of the Group A matches were 1-1 draws: G2 x iG vs. Entity, LGD Gaming vs. Virtus.pro, Blacklist International vs. beastcoast, Virtus.pro vs. Entity and LGD Gaming vs. beastcoast.

Three teams share first place in Group B, winning once and drawing once on Thursday.

Aurora downed Azure Ray 2-0, then tied nouns 1-1. HEROIC topped MOUZ 2-0 after drawing 1-1 with nouns. PSG Quest defeated Azure Ray 2-0 following a 1-1 tie with HEROIC.

Action continues Friday with two matches for each team:

Group A

--Virtus.pro vs. G2 x iG

--Entity vs. beastcoast

--Blacklist International vs. LGD Gaming

--Entity vs. LGD Gaming

--beastcoast vs. G2 x iG

--Blacklist International vs. Virtus.pro

Group B

--PSG Quest vs. Aurora

--Azure Ray vs. MOUZ

--nouns vs. HEROIC

--Azure Ray vs. HEROIC

--MOUZ vs. Aurora

--nouns vs. PSG Quest

Dota 2 Riyadh Masters prize pool

1. $1.5 million, 1,000 Esports World Cup team points

2. $800,000, 600 Esports World Cup team points

3. $600,000, 350 Esports World Cup team points

4. $400,000, 200 Esports World Cup team points

5-6. $300,000, 90 Esports World Cup team points

7-8. $200,000, 30 Esports World Cup team points

9-12. $100,000

13-14. $70,000

15-16. $40,000

17-18. $25,000

19-20. $15,000

--Field Level Media